. That sucks Dude. Hope all is well! Looking at a new Rebel EOS set up, and will keep the 20D as a back up once I get it serviced.

__________________Txt msg with Dan right after he was paralyzed:Me: Hey Dan-O. Just wanted to say howdy and Love ya!Dan: Howdy and Love you too. Doin' good and feeling good.Me: Give 'em hell, little Bro!Dan: Roger that.

WOW. Thanks, MT!! Looks like they have some really good prices!! Will definitely give them a try.

__________________Txt msg with Dan right after he was paralyzed:Me: Hey Dan-O. Just wanted to say howdy and Love ya!Dan: Howdy and Love you too. Doin' good and feeling good.Me: Give 'em hell, little Bro!Dan: Roger that.

__________________Txt msg with Dan right after he was paralyzed:Me: Hey Dan-O. Just wanted to say howdy and Love ya!Dan: Howdy and Love you too. Doin' good and feeling good.Me: Give 'em hell, little Bro!Dan: Roger that.

Cutītle (k?tīt'l) 1.(Zool) A cephalopod of the genus Sepia, having an internal shell, large eyes, and ten arms furnished with denticulated suckers, by means of which it secures its prey. 2. A foul-mouthed fellow

Went along with Fancy and her sis Hannah, and Adam (Hannah's boyfriend) to Charlottesville, VA for a concert this past weekend...decided to tinker with manual settings & highway speeds & the fall foliage

I took this one just after I fixed the warp drive button on the Mighty KLR

__________________Txt msg with Dan right after he was paralyzed:Me: Hey Dan-O. Just wanted to say howdy and Love ya!Dan: Howdy and Love you too. Doin' good and feeling good.Me: Give 'em hell, little Bro!Dan: Roger that.

__________________Txt msg with Dan right after he was paralyzed:Me: Hey Dan-O. Just wanted to say howdy and Love ya!Dan: Howdy and Love you too. Doin' good and feeling good.Me: Give 'em hell, little Bro!Dan: Roger that.

Well, the weather was great yesterday...hadn't been riding for the sake of riding in awhile. While I have done a decent bit of riding, it has been to visit folks...riding with a purpose. Point A, meet Point B. It was a means to an end. I REALLY just needed to get out, get away...get lost. Been suffering from restlessness of the mind.

Topped off the KLR and hit the road:

First stop: Cypress Gardens. Thought this old tour boat in B&W has a nice feel to it...

Another boat along the dock. Wish the background wasn't so busy with other boats and stuff...

I decided to ride the 10 mile unpaved portion of the Old King's highway again...to see how it had been taken care of. This was the one spot where the road was hard packed enough to put the kickstand down. They had recently dumped a bunch of sand and crushed oyster shell on most of the road...it was like riding on the beach I know I have mentioned it before, but this the small portion of what used to be the main north/south route thru the colonies in Revolutionary Period. There is more of it to be seen, but is closed to vehicles, and I think it is also closed to foot traffic. The gate was only secured with caution tape, but I figured I best behave, as opposed to risking having bike impounded by DNR if I get caught...

After this, I found an atv trail into the woods right off the highway. Managed to traverse a couple of (admittedly small) downed trees without dumping the bike...down into a low area that turns out was a bulldozer track...loose wet mud/sand/water saturated grass...very slippery. Quite a weird feeling. The shinkos did not like it much, but I made in a couple hundred yards before I decided that I really didn't want to get stuck out here by myself...so I turned around and headed back, and as I approached the narrow (& deep as I was tall) ditch to get back to the road, I didn't realized I had bumped it into 2nd...SO, as I tried to throttle up the far bank. it stalled. Oh, crap. Over the bike goes, top down into the ditch. Hmmph. Tires are almost above my head as I stand in the ditch. No room to drag the bike into the ditch. Too narrow, and the bank behind me is too steep.

Now, I'm not a big guy at all (5'10", 155lbs). With a full tank of fuel, the KLR is about 410lbs. Recall that I gassed up at beginning of the ride. I had burned maybe a gallon. Guess I was gonna see if my $30.00 a month gym membership was doing me any good. Managed to drag the bike down a bit, so the the tires were about the level of my waist. Time for the Hulk to make an appearance...or so I hoped Surprisingly enough, it goes something like this:

After Herculean effort no. 1, the bike is at about 45*, maybe a bit more upright. Me: What the F do I do now??! I planted my feet again, and did (Herculean effort No. 2) the best shoulder press of my life, lol. I guess desperation CAN make you strong temporarily

Got the bike backed down into the ditch, so I could crank it up and ride out. WHEW. Adventure had, disaster averted.

My reward:

I'll definitely scout that atv track again, after the weather kills off the skeeters...they were horrendous.

__________________Txt msg with Dan right after he was paralyzed:Me: Hey Dan-O. Just wanted to say howdy and Love ya!Dan: Howdy and Love you too. Doin' good and feeling good.Me: Give 'em hell, little Bro!Dan: Roger that.

__________________Txt msg with Dan right after he was paralyzed:Me: Hey Dan-O. Just wanted to say howdy and Love ya!Dan: Howdy and Love you too. Doin' good and feeling good.Me: Give 'em hell, little Bro!Dan: Roger that.